20081226

They are about to lose their main supporter in Washington, but they are determined to make the most of the last few weeks before Obama's Inauguration.

Hopefully, they won't offer Fundamentalist in Chief Bush his most coveted dream of a full throttle war with Iran (see "Iran who wants war and why"). Nonetheless, they'll do their best to secure victory for one of their own in the February 10 national elections, and a massive operation on Gaza is gaining ground.

Fellow lame duck Ehud Olmert showed a few remorses months ago regarding the way Palestinians were treated, and Livni's recent visit to Mubarak was an interesting development... but Netanyahu and the Likud want diplomacy and Kadima to fail, and you can count on them to pour oil on the flames.

The Hamas cannot afford losing either. And they do know how to go with a bang...

Anyway, the calendar definitely looks grim for moderates, be they Israeli or Palestinian... and the window of opportunity perfect for fundamentalists, be they Jewish, Muslim or Christian.

20081222

The key question is not "Does it matter that Rick Warren will give the inaugural invocation ?"1 but "Does it matter that a supposedly model democracy performs inaugurations with invocations, swearings on the Bible, and the final words 'so help me God' ?"

I don't consider myself an atheist and I understand the value of traditions, but these symbols are a clear statement against the separation of church and state at the most critical moment : when the power is handed to the very person who will defend the U.S. Constitution.I know I'm repeating myself ("Universal Declaration of Independence From Fundamentalism"), but even religious Spain understood that this century and moreover this post-9/11 World demanded clear messages from democracies. Zapatero swore with his right hand on the Spanish Constitution.

Barack Obama can't afford this now, and his poor choice of Rick Warren proves to those who doubted that he won't ignite any divisive war during his mandate.

But I have this dream : President Obama casually swearing on the U.S. Constitution for his second term.

In doing so, Barack Hussein Obama will also defuse many mines for successors who are bound to break, sooner or later, that other glass ceiling.

Broken arm and ribs for the victim... "the victim" referring not to the target, but to the journalist... That should be Retaliation Size 10 on the Bush-Cheney Torture Scale, I guess.

Zaidi lost his honor as a journalist2, but made his point as a revolted citizen.

Nikita Khrushchev made his point by banging his own shoe on his desk... History will remember different tales about 43 : choking on a pretzel, asking for permission to pee, taking a lesson about My Pet Goat instead of his responsabilities, and once again3, exposing his formidable talent for dodging, ducking, and even lame-ducking.

1 - 9/11 Truthers ("9/11 Truthers Knockin' At Your Door" - 20081207) claimed that the shoe had been tele-guided by CIA operators so that it would crash on the US flag instead of the POTUS - a false flag scenario meant to trigger a war between US and Middle Eastern shoe manufacturers.2 - an interesting twist of fate when you consider how journalism has been handled with during Bush's terms (see "How much for a journalist ?" - 20050113) 3 - meet "The Washington Dodgers" (20080925), the nut house that George built.

20081208

For those who can't read the banner, there's a big "switching is easy" next to Joe's face, and below an invitation to join CREDO mobile : "more people are changing to CREDO mobile for reliable services and reliable values (NB : the "and" is not only bold - I mean the typo - but also underlined). We've been a loyal supporter of progressive causes since 1985".

When former French President François Mitterrand died in January 1996, his closest followers started working on his legacy, so that History recalls his great moments (peaking with the abolition of death penalty), and forgets his less glorious ones (where to start : Vichy ? Rwanda ? illegal eavesdropping... ?).

George Walker Bush is not dead yet, but The Bush Legacy project seems to be the priority of an administration in its last throes (nevermind those minor wars and crises). Former eminent members are also taking part, and Ks are welcome. Not necessarily of the triple nor financial kind but yes, Karen Hughes and Karl Rove are doing their shares.

"The Architect" is not only indulging into revisionism but also threatening to reveal, in a book, the names of political figures who never considered Lord Dubya "a legitimate president" : "I'm going to name names and show examples"1.

"I'm going to name names and show examples". I guess many of us obscure bloggers wish we were political figures instead of pathetical buffoons, just to have the pleasure to receive this supreme honor from a man who, ironically, owes his "Turd Blossom" nickname to the very person of whom, over the past decades, he's been devotedly licking the fleshiest parts other beers cannot reach.

"I'm going to name names and show examples". This sentence is probably the ultimate tribute to the actual Bush Legacy, the most vibrant homage to the darkest moments in the Bush-Cheney era. Amerika decided to show such examples as Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib, and History will need names to go along with these.

History has just started its work on the Bush Legacy, Karl2... And your own name has been named for a legitimate residency in jail, remember ?

I guess Hollywood can milk out of your project something like "The Bourne Again Christian" trilogy : The Bush Legacy = The Fundamentalist Supremacy + The Fascist Identity.One last time, Bush was successful only as a Fundamentalist in Chief : he never acted as a President for the good of his country, nor even as a Republican for the good of his party, but as a Fundamentalism for the good of fundamentalism. And in that field, he was only one Supreme Justice short of a perfect record.

2 - Including from Iran, with love : "Bush: A disgraceful legacy" (Linda S. Heard - Tehran Times 20081207) "You have to admire President George W. Bush, who on January 20 will leave behind him what is arguably the worst U.S. presidential legacy ever. No sleepless nights over a global economy in freefall for him. No conscience haunted by the millions of souls, whose lives have been ruined for ever due to his misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan."

20081207

A "discussion" with a 9/11 Truther is similar to a visit from a Jehovah's Witness : about 30 seconds into his monologue, you wish you never opened the darned door... and the fanatic won't leave until he's managed to either convert you, or extort from you the pledge to read the tons of brochures he came with.And it works : the cult claims every day more followers, and because of the network effect (now that more and more people talk about it around me, it sounds more plausible), "skeptics" now refer to the few naïves who keep refusing to believe in The Obvious Truth. At the speed of light or almost (not everybody is optical fiber connected, but the internet surely helps), an underground streamlet becomes the powerful mainstream.By the end of 2006, more than one third of Americans thought that 9/11 was somehow masterminded by their own Government (cf "Why the 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Won't Go Away" - Time Magazine 20060903). At that stage, this alternative propaganda reached the levels of the official propaganda circa 2004 elections. By "official propaganda", I mean the neocon/theocon spin (Saddam did it), not the plain facts (al Qaeda did it).Of course, the vast majority of believers have nothing to do with the minority of activists from the far left and the far right who designed this now indestructible perpetual motion device. The aim of the game is not to reveal truth but to keep masses of faithful citizens very angry against the media, democracy or justice... and thus ready to switch to something radically different.

In an ultra-conservative's "best of all possible worlds", the Democratic Party, which somewhat managed to sideline the more or less nihilist "ultra-liberals" who doomed its federal elections for decades, could face the same turmoil as the Republican Party facing its own fundamentalist "minority" (see "GOP : Time to Split"). In a nutshell : US extreme right, in its last throes, resuscitating US extreme left... now we're talking conspiration theories, GOPdamnit !

I've already made1 the parallel with fundamentalism and explained how decent citizens, legitimately demanding accountability and transparency, are being shamelessly fooled, how 9/11 revisionist movements actually serve both the terrorists who committed the crimes, and the excuse for an administration that deliberately betrayed the victims and lied to its own people.You want to elaborate on this parallel.

In the endless and strange alternative swamps roam self-proclaimed Keepers of The Truth About 9/11. I guess this breed of fundamentalists, "Truthers", owe their name to the same guys who came up with "pro-life" for "anti-abortion rights". Just like with religious fundamentalists, you can find an infinity of Truths, sects, and charismatic preachers. The difference is that each one of them publishes his own Holy Book.Speaking of which... one of the main reasons why conspiration theories keep multiplying is the fact that the supposed reference book happens to be a total joke for everyone, including its own authors. Doomed from the start, The 9/11 Commission Report was reluctantly initiated more than one year after the attacks (at that time, even the name of the House Majority Leader was DeLay), and carefully monitored and edited in order to spare the Bush-Cheney ticket... Unsurprisingly, when the final report was issued (July 2004), 9/11 revisionists had more fish to fry than 11/2 conspiratists.Aggravating circumstances : the whole 9/11 affair is plagued with all the ingredients needed for vintage conspiracy theories. Secret services from Western and Eastern countries alike were aware of the eminence of a massive terror attack in the US involving planes, the White House dismissed the threats, neocons (and Darth Vader himself, the very Lord of False Flags) were waiting for the occasion to spread wealth for corporate lobbies and mayhem for enemies of democracy, the operation leveraged on al Qaeda's comprehensive network and often from US friendly countries, and the public opinion had been relentlessly carpet bombed by Dubya's Weapons of Mass Disinformation... enough stuff to feed one successful thriller trilogy, two sequels, five prequels and a pretzel - no sweeteners needed, thank you.

Anyway... Truthers are pumped up to the max, and they want to expose everything about 9/11. Well... almost everything. For instance, they refuse to see those plane debris around the Pentagon, they don't want to consider the potential links between the collapse of the WTC and the minor dent caused by a small boeing passing by, and they have no clue whatsoever how a peaceful santa claus look-alike meditating in the Afghan mountains could have any connection with this American tragedy.

As Michelle Malkin nailed it the other day, "The plain truth will never mollify a Truther"2.

Truthers are the masters of cover-up : everyday, they overwhelm facts with thick layers of new documents, analysis, and theories. Everyday, this fertile soil welcomes more fundamentalists eager to grow everyday more greenbacks. Too bad the said theories are not as sustainable as this profitable ecosystem...Which may explain why, when it comes to claiming justice, those guys are more successful at building Facebook petitions than bulletproof cases for the usual legal path.I mean come on, this is America, a country where even before gas prices took a hike, there were more lawyers per capita than cars (I'm wrong ? Sue me). This is Amerika, a country where the First Amendment makes sure the Nazi Party can parade in Ohio or sponsor a highway in Oregon3. This is America, back on track, where even the President's Vice and his former Chief Torture Officer can be brought to justice4. This is America, where even O. J. Simpson can run, but can't hide.

The day someone actually finds the proof that al Qaeda didn't commit 9/11, and the day this person actually wants to make his Truth triumph in the arms of Justice, he will succeed. You betcha.

The question is who's gonna win the Race of the Millenium : the fundamentalists desperately waiting for the WTC Messiah, or the fundamentalists ready to provoke the second coming of the Christ / Mahdi via their own false flag5 ?

2 - "The plain truth will never mollify a Truther. There’s always a convoluted excuse – some inconsequential discrepancy to seize on, some photographic “evidence” to magnify into a blur of meaningless pixels – that will rationalize irrationality." ("Truthers to the left of me, truthers to the right" 20081205).NB: yeah, I know... I'm a subscriber to Karl Rove's e-mails and I sail dangerous seas over the web. But browsing the site of a "conservative syndicated columnist, author, and Fox News Channel contributor" can be rewarding sometimes. Check this banner out : what a lovely souvenir I fished on her homepage yesterday - Santa GOP has already come to town ! I voted McCain and all I got is this lousy Palin 2012 T-shirt ! =>

20081205

Even after the elections, the Obama campaing keep a perfect record in management. The migration from barackobama.com to change.gov was one first step, and as expected, the grassroot operations machine is being re-mobilized*, weeks ahead of the inauguration.I've been expecting from them a spectacular drive, nationwide and beyond, for a new kind of public / community service at the county level, and I guess we're about to witness it.

* David Plouffe's e-mail this Dec. 5th :

Exactly one month ago, you made history by giving all Americans a real opportunity for change.Now it's time to start preparing and working for change in our communities.On December 13th and 14th, supporters are coming together in every part of the country to reflect on what we've accomplished and plan the future of this movement. Your ideas and feedback willbe collected and used to guide this movement in the months and years ahead.Join your friends and neighbors -- sign up to host or attend a Change is Coming house meeting near you.Since the election, the challenges we face -- and our responsibility to take action -- have only gotten more urgent.You can connect with fellow supporters, make progress on the issues you care about, and help shape the future of your community and our country.Learn what you can do now to support President-elect Obama's agenda for change and continue tomake a difference in your community.Take the first important step by hosting or attending a Change is Coming house meeting. Sign up rightnow: http://my.barackobama.com/changeiscomingTo get our country back on track, it will take all of us working together.Barack and Joe have a clear agenda and an unprecedented opportunity for change. But they can't do it alone.Will you join us at a house meeting and help plan the next steps for this movement?Thanks,DavidDavid Plouffe - Campaign Manager - Obama for America

20081204

US automotive industry is dead because, in spite of decades of decay, it decided to stick to "US automotive industry" instead of switching to "global mobility services".

Ford being Ford, only GM and Chrysler are openly talking about bankruptcy* in what looks like a slim-fast solution before a merger of equals (obese couch potato dummies lacking a vision for the future) : "just give us some cash, we'll deliver green cars as soon as we can and oh... if you don't mind we'll deliver a few pink slips even sooner".

Flint survivor Michael Moore wants**, like most Americans, the US to put money in sustainable transportation infrastructures, and to pull the plug for dumb, dumber and dumberer, to which I answer "which plug, Mike ? Isn't it time to install one ?"

* see for instance "GM, Chrysler Said to Consider Bankruptcy to Get U.S. Bailout" (Bloomberg 20081204)** see my e-mail box, in the spam section : "Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore" (20081203), somewhere between an ad for blue chips (take a blue pill and recover your lost highs on Wall Street) and a message from a desperate whitehousewife ("take my advice, O Great Bama, and please pardon my sins for I don't want to go to jail. Yours Truly, Karl Rove").